In general, military and commercial aircraft are increasingly relying on electrical systems to perform functions that were previously performed by mechanical or hydraulic systems. In general, some manufacturers are working to manufacture an “all electric” aircraft that has reduced weight and, thus, has increased fuel efficiency and/or range.
Moreover, modern communication, navigation, avionics, weapons systems, etc., are consuming ever increasing amounts of electric power. As a result, power demands on the existing aircraft power plant are increasing and expected to continue increasing in the future. For example, some known aircraft generators currently in service are capable of generating approximately 100 kW of electric energy. While this quantity of energy is sufficient to meet today's typical aircraft energy requirements, it may not be sufficient to meet future energy requirements as discussed above.
One solution to meeting additional power needs is to install a larger, higher output generator to meet the increased energy demands. However, installing a larger generator is often not feasible on modern aircraft. For example, the aircraft may not have enough “open space” to accommodate the physical size of a larger generator. For example, at least some known aircraft generators are driven by a single power take-off (“PTO”) shaft that also drives many other hydraulic and pneumatic pumps. As discussed above, as electrical power requirements increase, the torques and stresses on the PTO shaft due to a larger generator would also increase significantly. Additionally, it is often not practical to modify the aircraft to support a larger generator for cost and other reasons. Other drawbacks and disadvantages with current aircraft generators may also exist.